BALTIMORE — Tampa Bay’s Chris Archer was about to pitch to Baltimore’s Chris Davis when the Rays pitcher noticed Jace Peterson attempting to steal third base, which was uncovered because of an infield shift.

Archer sprinted from the mound and attempted to tag Peterson before he could reach third. Archer was unsuccessful and appeared to come up limping after a mild collision Thursday.

“If I could have run out there myself and stopped him, I would have done it,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said after his team’s 9-5 win Thursday night. “What we’re basically or what I’m saying at that point is that I don’t care about that runner and I’ve got all the confidence in the world for Chris to get the guy out.”

“We were trying to draw Archer into the play where he would get hurt and wouldn’t be able to pitch anymore,” Showalter jokingly said Friday. “He actually tweaked his (hamstring) a little bit on that. That’s a player play. The fact is, it was a little bit closer than it should have been.”

Archer (2-1) allowed four runs and 11 hits with seven strikeouts and one walk over 5 1/3 innings, and the Rays extended their winning streak to six. Archer was confident that he could have made the play against Peterson at third.

“I’m athletic,” Archer said. “From the team perspective it wouldn’t be smart for me to do something silly and get hurt. But I train to be an athlete. I saw the dude take off. It was a close play.”

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